crested cusk-eel
Ophidion josephi Girard, 1858
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Ophidion josephi is a fish species in the family Ophidiidae. Widespread in the Western Atlantic from Georgia to Florida, also in the Gulf of Mexico. Marine tropical demersal fish. The specific name josephi refers to St Joseph Island in Texas where the type specimen was collected.
Wikipedia contributors, Ophidion josephi; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:59:58.985332+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ophidion josephi Girard, 1858
- Name authority
- Girard, 1858
- Common name
- crested cusk-eel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Ophidiiformes
- Family
- Ophidiidae
- Genus
- Ophidion
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderOphidiiformes
- familyOphidiidae Rafinesque, 1810
- subfamilyOphidiinae Rafinesque, 1810
- genusOphidion Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesOphidion josephi Girard, 1858
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ophidion. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ophidion barbatum Linnaeus, 1758 | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| shorthead cusk-eelOphidion dromio Lea & Robins, 2003 | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophidion fulvum (Hildebrand & Barton, 1949) | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| spotfin cusk-eelOphidion galeoides (Gilbert, 1890) | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophidion guianense Lea & Robins, 2003 | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| brighteye cusk-eelOphidion iris Breder, 1936 | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophidion metoecus Robins, 1991 | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophidion muraenolepis Günther, 1880 | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophidion puck Lea & Robins, 2003 | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophidion rochei Müller, 1845 | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| longnose cusk-eelOphidion antipholus Lea & Robins, 2003 | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ophidion exul Robins, 1991 | OphidiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Ophidion welshi (Nichols & Breder, 1922) (Nichols & Breder, 1922) | synonym |
| Otophidium welshi Nichols & Breder, 1922 Nichols & Breder, 1922 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Girard, C. F. (1858). Notes upon various new genera and new species of fishes, in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution, and collected in connection with the United States and Mexican boundary survey: Major William Emory, Commissioner. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 10: 167–171. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:49VT3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.